


Powder and the Fuse

by athousandsilhouettes



Category: Far Cry, Far Cry 5, Far Cry: New Dawn, New Dawn - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, but like it'll have cute parts, not gunna lie this is just gunna be saaaaaad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-01-12 11:30:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18445655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athousandsilhouettes/pseuds/athousandsilhouettes
Summary: “I – *what*!?” she was taken aback all of a sudden, almost physically like she had the breath knocked out of her. Rush looked up from where he sat, eyes full and unblinking at her. She couldn’t even comprehend what he was trying to say. “No. you don’t, Rush.” He got up then, to move towards her. Taking a step back, she threw her arms up in disgust. He stopped in his tracks. “Don’t. Just, don’t,” her tone was cold.“Listen to me, Sharp –”“No! okay? Stop. This isn’t – you’re wrong, or you’re lying to yourself. So just don’t.” She shook her head in frustration, turning around to storm out. He didn’t stop her, which was good cause she would have probably punched him. She was so angry. *How could he say that to me. After everything.* She needed to leave, get some air beyond that of their enclosure. To scream somewhere no one could hear her. To punch a tree. Anything. But most of all she needed to get away from Rush, because she could not even look at the man right now.





	1. 09.09.35

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be pretty short with maybe 4 or 5 parts? But we'll see how it goes! I just really wanted to get that Cap and Rush angst so here ya go. The idea was pretty much based solely off the song I Love You by Billie Eilish, so HIGHLY recommend listening to it.

 

09.09.35

Dawn was fast approaching by the time Sharp crossed back into resistance territory. She’d been out almost all day hunting, occasionally finding some abandoned houses to sort through. Picking apart the place and taking anything that might be of use. Two rabbits, one buck and a pack full of scrounged materials later she was heading back to Prosperity.

She had put her kills in the back of the truck she was driving. It would’ve been easier, and she might’ve collected more if she had brought someone with her. Carmina always liked going out with her, whether it was business or hunting, but she didn’t feel like company. Carmina was a good kid, but Sharp sometimes preferred the silence. Plus, the girl idolized Rush, always talking about how much good he’d been doing for the people in Hope County. And at the moment Sharp didn’t feel like thinking about the man.

They hadn’t talked in a while, mostly her doing. It had been about a week since their heated exchange where Sharp walked out on him. It had been tense ever since.

When the headlights of her truck shined upon the gates of Prosperity she slowed down, the sound of gravel under tires disrupting the calm night air. Sharp exited, pulling her bow over her shoulder and grabbing her spoils from the back. After entering the gate, she handed it off to another resistance member. Nodding her thanks, she turned to shed her weapons at one of the workbenches.

Once she dropped everything her gaze shifted to the other side of the compound. There sat Rush and a couple others around a bonfire. He was deep in conversation with them, gesturing greatly with his hands. The group listened intently, then threw their heads back in laughter as he said something funny. He was always so good with people. The way he spoke could always capture the attention of a room. It always amazed her to watch him talk, never minding the way he expressed a plan or shared an idea during their meetings. She preferred him to take control of the situation, knowing she was useless when it came to that.

Rush looked up when he noticed her standing there. Their eyes locked for a moment and she almost wished she could forget about everything and join them. Almost. He gave a small smile, to which she turned away from. She’d stared for too long.

Sharp continued in the direction of the main hall. Carmina was inside, talking with her mom. They both looked up as Sharp walked in. “Captain,” Kim spoke before she had even made it three feet in the place. “Glad you’re back, do you have some time? I wanted to go over some things with you and Rush.”

Sharp felt her stomach drop, “can it wait for another time? I’m pretty burnt out. I just want to shower and turn in for the night.” Kim’s eyes darted to Carmina then back at Sharp, “Yeah, of course Captain. You need your rest more than anyone else here. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“I was actually going to head to the old Fall’s End outpost then.” Kim looked skeptical, but didn’t say anything so Sharp continued, “but whatever it is, I’m sure Rush can help you handle it just fine on his own.”

Kim blinked at her, “I value your opinion on this, Captain.”

“You have your leader back, you’ll be far better off listening to him. Not me.”

“I’m sure he’ll be interested in what you’ll have to say–” Sharp cut Kim off before she could finish, “I don’t think he’ll need my opinion in any matter. He knows what’s at stake here.”

Sharp moved past them before they could say anything else, to a room where a lot of the supplies and food was stored. Sensing she’d been followed, she looked over her shoulder haphazardly. “Hey, kid.” Carmina stood in the doorway staring at her, “hey.” Sharp picked through some food before choosing an apple from the mass.

“I can’t help but notice you’ve been avoiding Rush. Everything okay between you two?” Without even turning around, Sharp took a bite out of the apple while replying, “just dandy.” Carmina shifted behind her. Sharp sighed, “look, don’t worry about it, kid. Things have just been a little intense lately with Rush being taken and everything the twins have put us through. Rush just needs some time to adjust to being back. He needs some space, even if he doesn’t think so.”

“You think it scared him. When he was taken by them.” Carmina spoke barely above a whisper, as if Rush might pop up beside them as they talked about him. Sharp finally turned to face her, leaning against the counter she stood at. She crossed her arms. “Yes…no. Maybe,” she shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve just never seen him this shaken before. To the point where…” Sharp looked down.

“What?” Carmina looked at her expectantly. “Nothing. He just needs some time. Then things will be back to normal” With that, Sharp got up to leave. Whether Carmina was going to probe further or not, Sharp did not know. But she did not want to give her the opportunity, making it clear she was done with the conversation.  When she knew she wasn’t being followed this time, Sharp breathed out in relief.

Though Sharp was finally alone, her mind couldn’t shake her thoughts on Rush. She felt anger towards him. Anger at putting her in this situation. She knew he had been wrong about what he told her. Better to leave him to figure that out than try to rationalize with him. It was harsh, true. A little part of her felt ashamed at the bluntness she reacted with. He no doubt felt she acted unfairly towards him, perhaps even vicious in the moment. Not knowing whether she agreed or not was another story. But despite it all, she didn’t regret it. She couldn’t afford to.

Above everything else she felt miserable. She did not realize the consequence of ignoring Rush was how terribly she missed him. They had only just gotten him back from the highwaymen, and now she didn’t even get to talk to him. Out of her own damn stubbornness. Seeing him around the compound only worsened the feeling, he was so close. Often Sharp would feel his eyes lingering on her in passing, but she refused to acknowledge his presence.

If only things had gone differently that day.


	2. 09.02.35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part takes place a week before the events of the first part (each chapter title is the date). Sorry the format of the chapters jump around the place, but I felt it will be better executed this way!

09.02.35

 

The mines. That’s where they had hidden him.

As soon as Sharp found out the highwaymen were keeping Rush at the old abandoned mines she was there. Carmina begged to come along for the extraction but Sharp refused, “it’s too dangerous.” Carmina looked displeased but didn’t argue further. Sharp wanted to get in and out as fast as possible, knowing the only way of doing so was by going alone.

Surely enough, Sharp cleared the area of any highwaymen surrounding the place. Each one falling by the flight of her arrows. She made sure to pick them off strategically so as none of the others were aware of her arrival.

Deeming it safe, she sprinted towards the entrance to the tunnels. Sharp crouched low as she secured her bow over her shoulder and brought out her railroad spike. The passageways proved to be quite narrow, providing the perfect opportunity to take those guarding them out one by one as she made her way deeper inside.

Sharp made sure to tread lightly around every twist and turn she encountered, coming around a corner to find one of the highwaymen with their back to her. He held his rifle loosely in his hands, indicating that her presence wasn’t known. She placed one foot in front of the other, heel to toe, slowly moving up behind him. When she was close enough, Sharp grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face her. There was an instant of confusion witnessed from the man before she plunged her spike under his chin and straight into his head. He sputtered for only a second as his body went limp.

She made sure to set the body down gently, wiping the blood off the spike and continued on. Nine guards later she appeared at a ladder she knew must lead to where Rush was being kept. She stopped there not touching the ladder.  Now that she came this far she was struck with the realization that she didn’t know what to expect once she ascended. Her mind settling on the worst possibilities all too fast.

Deciding she was better off not standing there to dwell upon those thoughts, she took hold of the rung in front of her and started to climb. As Sharp worked her way up she began to hear muffled voices. It made her cautious, pulling out the gun strapped to her side. A loud crash sounded from above, startling her. She moved fast now, pulling herself up into the room.  Though dark, she vividly saw the scene before her. There stood Rush, bent over one of the highwaymen he must’ve thrown to the ground. With hands zip tied together, he swung them around his captor’s neck. He pulled back and strangled him, taking sudden notice of Sharp’s presence.

“Oh my God… Jesus, I thought you were dead!” He looked up at Sharp with a smile, relief flooding his features. “I should’ve known you would come through.” He threw the highwayman’s lifeless body to the floor before getting up. He cried out in anguish when he tried to put pressure on his left leg, Sharp reaching out a hand to steady him.

He held onto her for support. “You came back for me,” he shook his head in amazement, “you crazy son of a bitch, you came back for me!” Sharp rolled her eyes, “obviously.” She brought out her spike as he held out his wrists, cutting the ties. “Are you okay?” holstering her gun, she couldn’t keep the worry from her voice, sharing in the relief that he was okay and that she found him when she had. “I am now,” he sounded out of breath but gave her another smile.  “Come on, we should get out of here.”

 

 

-

 

 

“Okay, hold still.”

Sharp placed the alcohol-soaked cloth onto the cut on Rush’s cheek. He barely winced as he stared at her. “They really didn’t hold back, huh,” she held her hand steadily to clean the wound. Two minutes prior, Kim helped them reset his dislocated knee. Now they had moved inside so Sharp could help him get cleaned up.

She noticed he wasn’t talking as much as when they’d escaped the mines. Sharp thought it might be from exhaustion, the adrenaline undoubtedly wearing off now that they were out of danger. But when she looked at him his eyes were focused. She paid it little mind as she continued to disinfect the couple other scratches he had.

“There. All done.” Sharp set the cloth aside and got up. “Thanks.” He stretched his leg out slowly in front of him.

She shrugged, “It’s nothing.”

“I mean for getting me out of there, Cap. I thought I was a goner. Those twins…” His expression looked haunting.

“I wasn’t just going to leave you there.” To think back at the condition she had found him in. The memory made her skin crawl, even though it happened only an hour or so ago.

“You came back for me.” He stated the fact in awe, like it was some miracle. When she looked at him his expression was so serious. She couldn’t break eye contact with him.

“I… I have to tell you something.”

Sharp hesitated a moment, feeling an uneasiness settle in the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t like him to act grim, even with the current state. She feared something might’ve happened while he was held captive. She didn’t even think of what he must’ve gone through while he was gone, half expecting it to feel like he was never gone in the first place. That he would already be rambling about their next course of action. But she could sense something was off. Something had changed. “What is it?”

He broke their gaze, looking down at the floor. He didn’t answer, swallowing dryly.

“You’re scaring me, Thomas.” She became aware of the sudden silence that filled the room, how it hung there ever so ominously between them.

When he finally spoke, she let out a huff of laughter. Relief flowing over her body at the words. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath, “oh my God, you really had me going there.” She waited for him to crack a smile, or laugh at how gullible she was. But she saw neither.

“I’m sorry.” He hadn’t moved a muscle from when he’d said it. She felt a flood of numbness overwhelm her.

“I – _what!?”_ she was taken aback all of a sudden, almost physically like she had the breath knocked out of her. Rush looked up from where he sat, eyes full and unblinking at her. She couldn’t even comprehend what he said. “No. you don’t, Rush.” He got up then, to move towards her. Taking a step back, she threw her arms up in disgust. He stopped in his tracks. “Don’t. Just, don’t,” her tone was cold.

“Listen to me, Sharp –”

“No! okay? Stop. This isn’t – you’re wrong, or you’re lying to yourself. So just don’t.” She shook her head in frustration, turning around to storm out. He didn’t stop her, which was good cause she would have probably punched him. She was so angry. _How could he say that to me. After everything._ She needed to leave, get some air beyond that of their enclosure. To scream somewhere no one could hear her. To punch a tree. Anything. But most of all she needed to get away from Rush, because she could not even look at the man right now.

Everything had been fine, good even. They had only just returned from the mines. She was so relieved to have him back and she could see he was too. She didn’t expect things to escalate so suddenly. And that’s when he’d said it.

He told her he loved her.

 


	3. 09.16.35

 

09.16.35

 

Rush was cleaning his gun when Sharp burst through the door of the ranch, throwing the limp burlap sack she had been carrying over her shoulder to the floor. The sudden arrival made Rush jump and spin around in bewilderment, “Jesus fuck!”  Sharp just looked over at him, “I need your help.” Rush’s mouth hung open in astonishment before collecting himself, “so what, we’re talking again?”

It had been fourteen days now since they last spoke.

“Yes. We’re good.” He raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes, still clearly confused at her sudden arrival. Just then the sack started to stir. His eyes darted towards the mound on the floor. “Is there someone in there?” Sharp gave a nod of her head, “one of the highwaymen. Thought we could get some information from him.” 

“Where did you find him?”

“One of the outposts. He was hiding after I’d cleared the place.”

Rush frowned, “You went alone? Why didn’t you bring someone with you?” Sharp looked away from him, “It was fine, they didn’t even pull the alarm.” He didn’t look convinced, “I still would’ve preferred if you at least had Timber with you. You never know what could happen.”

Sharp was getting annoyed. Rush never used to fuss this much over her capability before. Her thoughts raced back to the night they last spoke. How raw everything had been between them. And what he had said. She quickly pushed it away.

Rush was still eyeing the shuffling heap suspiciously, “you want to interrogate ‘em?” Sharp nodded her head once more, staring at him intently. Rush gave a sigh, “alright then, let me go find some rope.”

Twenty minutes later, the highwayman was sat with hands and feet bound. The guy was clearly mad, but he remained quiet. Rush planted himself before the man with his arms crossed, while Sharp stood off to the side. She turned her railroad spike in her hands as she studied their hostage. He was young. Too young to be messing around with the likes of Mickey and Lou.

“This is the least I’ve heard out of one of you yet. You guys are always running around, blasting your music.” When the guy didn’t respond to Rush he continued, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Let me go.” When he spoke, Sharp heard the slightest tremble in his voice. _He must be pretty shaken up_. “We’ll let you go, all you gotta do is answer a couple of questions.” The guy continued to ignore him, staring straight ahead and refusing to meet Rush’s gaze. “You wanna tell us what Mickey and Lou are making you do?” Still nothing.

“Can you tell us their location?” Rush spoke calmly but the man only continued to sit in a state of paralysis. Sharp felt herself growing impatient. She lunged towards the man, leaning him back in the chair he was tied to. “He asked you a question. How about you answer it.” She gritted through teeth, her fist full as she clenched the man’s shirt tightly.

The highwayman seemed to snap out of the shock he had been experiencing, because he reeled back in surprise, eyes wide. A split second later his features twisted into anger. He didn’t hesitate as he brought his head down into Sharp’s face. She stumbled backwards, feeling her nose explode in a shower of blood. “ _FUCK_ ,” Sharp threw her hand to cover her face, simultaneously taking her spike and sinking it into the man’s thigh. He howled in pain as she held it there.

“Okay, okay, okay!” She felt Rush steady her with his hand, appearing directly in her frame of vision, “are you okay?”

“M fuckin’ fine, thad fuckin’ brat.” She muffled the words out. Rush turned to take hold of the spike, to which Sharp released as he did. She covered the gushing stream from her nose with both hands now. When Rush pulled out her spike the man cried out in anguish, but he paid little attention. Dropping it to the floor, he proceeded to take off his jacket.

“Wad’re you doin’?” He pulled his shirt over his head. “You need something to stop the bleeding. Here,” he bunched up the shirt and handed it to her. “Don be so fuckin’ dramatic,” but she took the shirt from him anyways, applying the pressure to her nose and allowing the material to soak up the blood.

Rush held out his hand to help her up, “maybe you should let me handle this for a sec.”

Sharp reluctantly agreed, leaving the two to go sit in the infirmary. The place was empty apart from Selene, who Sharp all but physically threw out. She didn’t particularly like the girl, but above all else she just wanted to be alone.

A little while later the door opened as Rush entered, his jacket back on and zipped up. He walked over to the freezer to grab something. Once he got whatever it was that he was rummaging for he made his way to Sharp. Rush handed her an ice pack, to which she took from him gratefully.

“The kid won’t talk. No use in keeping him,” he stood with his hands on his hips, contemplating. Sharp held the cold pack to the bridge of her nose, letting it numb the pain. “So you’re going to let him go,” she didn’t state it exactly as a question. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Hmm,” she watched him as he thought to himself.  He looked at her, “you don’t think I should?” In truth, Sharp didn’t really know what to do. “You’re the boss, you know best.” She paused, “I just think I shouldn’t have stabbed the guy, probably not the best thing I did there.”

Rush gave a short laugh, “trust me, I would like to have stabbed the guy, too.” Sharp knew he only said it to make her feel better. He would never have done something as impulsive.

“Here,” she handed the darkened, bloody shirt back to him. He gave her a look of amusement. “Cap, I have no intention of putting that back on.”

“Oh. Yeah.” She closed her eyes at her own stupidity. _Fucking idiot._

When she thought the conversation had ceased, she sat with her head tilted back and her eyes still closed for a minute, waiting for some of the pain to subside. When she opened them again, she was surprised to see Rush hadn’t left.

“It’s nice to talk again.” Rush spoke the words softly as he watched her. She turned away, applying the ice pack to her nose, “yeah.” Sharp peered at him from the side, a smile creeping across her face. “It is.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” He reached in his pocket then held out her railroad spike, “here. You still using this thing?”

“Of course I do,” she gave a disbelieving shake of her head, taking it from his hands. “It’s probably the most useful weapon I have on me at all times. It’s great for short range _and_ stealth. You know how many places I can sneak this into? Plus, nobody sees it coming, it’s – what?”

She noticed Rush just staring at her. “Nothing,” he replied, giving her a small smirk. She frowned at him, to which he laughed. “I’ve just never heard you talk about anything with such passion. You sound like you’re in love with it.”

Sharp shrugged, “It’s reliable. That’s all I’m saying.”

There was an awkward pause, the both of them sitting there. It almost felt like normal, how they talked again. Sharp would be lying if she said she hadn’t missed it. She desperately wished they could just move past it. The tension in the air became apparent between the two in that moment, like they could both feel it. She felt like a fuse seated next to the powder. All it would take was a spark to set it off, knowing what was to come.

“Look… about what I said before.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” She said it a little too quickly, flinching at how harsh she sounded.

Rush made a pained expression, “Sharp, I don’t want to pretend that conversation didn’t happen. I want to talk about this.” Sharp couldn’t help the irritation begin to build, meanwhile Rush just looked at her in a way that could only be described as heartbreaking.

“Please, why can’t we just talk about u–”

“For fuck’s sake. I can’t do this.” She didn’t mean to cut him off but she couldn’t stand to go through it again, knowing the event would repeat itself. Sharp set aside the pack of ice and pressed her hand to her forehead, not wanting to hear it. Sharp got up, just as she did before. But this time he did, too. “Why not?!”

“Because we just can’t, Rush!”

“Is it because you don’t feel the same way? Just tell me, just tell me how you feel! Say something, anything!”

“Jesus Christ, Stop!”

“I can’t help how I feel, I mean it, I l–”

“DON’T.” The air stilled for a moment, but she continued “DON’T SAY IT. DON’T SAY YOU LOVE ME. BECAUSE I CAN’T HANDLE THAT I–” she choked on the words, not being able to prevent everything from pouring out now.

“I cannot deal with what that would mean, okay? If I love you then I can lose you! Then suddenly everything out there, everything we’ve been fucking throwing ourselves against becomes a hell of a lot scarier. Because this will make us weak! This will make us vulnerable, that’s not how this was supposed to be! That’s not how it’s supposed to be! It’s not!” 

In an instant, Rush had his arms around her pulling her close. She thought she was going to push him away, or knock him over. But she just let him hold her, not noticing until that moment the wet tears sliding down her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut, dropping to the floor, letting herself be completely consumed by him. He didn’t say anything as he held her. She sobbed into his shoulder, grabbing onto him as if he was the only stable thing she could hold onto.

“I have to live with the fact that I am going to lose you,” she said the words between her crying “I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.”

He held her tight against him, “I know.”

She knew her grip must be hurting him now, but she couldn’t let go. The thought that he might slip from her grasp if she loosened it in the slightest, that she would lose him then and there without warning.

“I can’t.”

“I know.” He repeated it over and over until she couldn’t hear anything anymore. Numb as she lay in his arms, never knowing how much she craved his touch. How gently he handled her like she was made of glass. She thought she’d shatter from their impact but only felt as though he was the one thing holding her together.


	4. 10.28.35

10.28.35

_“When I thought about how I might never see you again. It was like something clicked. I knew it was some unspoken, forbidden thing between us but…” Rush trailed off_

_“It was like the only thing that mattered was seeing you again. And when you showed up, when you saved me it was as if something solidified with my feelings for you.” His eyes lit up, reliving that moment when she found him, “it’s honestly indescribable.”_  

_Sharp never wanted to talk about it, but she couldn’t help the swell of emotions she felt. Her heart so full from his love towards her. She wanted to lie here forever with him, to hold him while he spoke to her things she thought she was never worthy to hear. So she did, for as long as she could. She gave herself to him as he did to her. For the weeks that followed she indulged in their time together. At moments feeling an unprecedented guilt looming over her, one that she sensed Rush felt, too. But it helped to unburden herself from everything else, the highwaymen, New Eden, her role and his, any of the consequences they would face._

_The nights they shared together melted her anger, dulling her hatred towards the world. It made her feel like there was more to this whole thing after all. That perhaps the world hadn’t gone completely to shit. Just maybe._

_Sharp always saw herself as the most pessimistic person alive, ironic in aiding a fool trying to rebuild America from its ashes before they’ve even settled. Oh, but how she idolized him and the vision he had created. She fell in love with an optimist who she wished would change her ways. Sometimes believing he had when they were in each other’s company long enough._

_He’d tell her of his plans for the future, eyes bright with hope and she would feel it. A spark ignited inside her chest. At first she couldn’t quite place it, but as it grew she became aware of exactly what it was; excitement. She couldn’t help the bubble of happiness she felt, surfacing to make her smile so hard tears were brought to her eyes and she would laugh. He would kiss her then, full and sweet. Bringing a hand to hold her face as they did, and when they broke apart she was never upset because she knew it wouldn’t be for long. Rush would follow by moving his thumb to wipe the streaks that trailed beneath her eyes, and she would forget what it felt like to be empty._

She pressed her fingers to the spot on her cheek, which was wet under her touch. She wiped it away along with the memory, feeling nothing.

Smoke filled the dark sky around Sharp, making it hard to breathe. Hair stuck to her temples from sweat, she pushed it aside impatiently. She took a couple of steps forward. The air was cool but the fires surrounding her radiated heat. Hearing nothing but the cracking of burning and her own breathing, she stood in front of the lifeless body before her.  Micky appeared out of nowhere, crawling towards where her sister lay. She made a pained sound as she grabbed onto Lou.

Micky began saying something, but it was just background noise to Sharp, who wasn’t listening. Blinking, she looked around to see new Eden ablaze and the havoc spread within. She relayed over everything that happened over the past few weeks in her head, knowing it was all leading up to this very moment. Wondering if it was worth it.

It wasn’t.

“I was supposed to take care of you…” Micky was sobbing now as she began shaking her sister’s shoulders. “I was supposed to take care of you and I didn’t and I’m so fucking sorry I fucked this up, man.” Sharp’s eyes flickered back to Micky, holding her side with one arm while grabbing onto Lou’s still body in the other.

She took another step forward, which brought Micky’s attention back to her. “Y’know, rabbit, you remind me of our Mom.” She let out a pained grunt as she settled against the ground. “She had hope. She ha –”

“ _Oh,_ save it.” Sharp didn’t want to hear any of the bullshit Micky spun for her.

“If you regret any of this you would have thought of that before you blew– before you did ANY of this. So please, spare me.”

Micky’s face turned from surprise to that of a hardened expression, but she didn’t continue what she was going to say.

“Fine.” Her lips pressed together in anger, “do what you gotta do.”

Sharp slowly knelt in front of Micky, bringing her gun up to her chest. The barrel positioned right over her heart. For a moment they did nothing. The stillness of Sharp’s hand against the rattling of Micky’s struggled breathing. Sharp looked at her, unblinking. There was hatred that sat behind Micky’s eyes, but fear lay there, too.

It was a sight, to see the people she had tried to take down for what seemed like a lifetime bloodied and bruised before her, but it brought her no relief. This wasn’t a victory, not to her. Emotionless, Sharp spoke, breaking the silence between them, “I’m not going to kill you.” With that, she lowered her weapon.

Micky blinked in confusion, lips parted like she couldn’t quite comprehend what she’d heard. “I… you’re letting me go?” She shook her head, “didn’t think it was like you to have such sympathy.”

“I feel no _sympathy_ towards you,” Sharp all but spat at Micky, something snapping inside her then as her features twisted in disgust. She reached out to grab her throat.  “You think this act as merciful? You truly believe I would grant you such after what you have done?”

She squeezed, feeling her eyes burn, “This is not mercy. I want you to live. I want you to live in a world without the person you love most. I want you to feel what I felt. You had to witness your sister die. And how you could not do anything to stop it. And now you are going to live with that.” Micky began clawing at the hands clenched around her throat. “I don’t care what you choose to do after this. Because it does not matter. You will be haunted by what happened here today. Each and every day that follows will be agony for you. And that’s what you deserve.” Sharp let go, throwing Micky backwards as she got up.  

She didn’t even stop to take one last glance at the twins as she emptied the cartridge of her pistol before tossing both pieces aside. The scene before her was grim, the last embers finally starting to settle as the remaining fires burnt out. As she stepped through the gates of New Eden Sharp felt a hollowness placed inside her ribs. It was a sense of loss she had never known before, only able to consume her now. It ripped her apart until she was nothing more than a lifeless ghost of her former self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if I'm super happy with this last chapter, I tried something a little different with this fic by writing in a kinda fast-paced way? The chapters are very short with a lot of content in them, which is how I wanted it to be, but I'm just not too sure if it worked out too well. Anyways! I still hope it was enjoyable to some degree! 
> 
> I still really enjoyed writing about rush and cap, so maybe I'll do more????? I was thinking maybe something from rush's pov, so we'll see!


End file.
